Ricardo's Report v Swansea

[ricardo 7,381]

There wasn''t a cloud in the sky as an unchanged City team ran out at CR this afternoon. Wes won the toss and decided to start with the sun in our favour first half. It was obviously a factor as Swansea defenders were having to shade their eyes every time the ball went in the air. City started off well and there was under a minute on the clock when Bennett crossed from the right and Steve Morison nodded it back beautifully for Pilkington to hammer hard and low past Vorm.Swansea looked unsettled and it took fully seven minutes before they got anywhere near the City goal. Morison was proving a real handful and won a booking against Monk when he was pulled back when almost clean through. On ten minutes Pilks was similarly felled on the left of the box and this time Fox''s free kick was met superbly by the unmarked Russel Martin who had all the time in the world to head past Vorm. At this stage it was looking like an easy stroll to victory but those of us with longer memories knew there would be a twist in the tail. I had hardly turned to my son to say it wasn''t all cut and dried when Sinclair burst into the box on the Swansea left. I thought he dived between two defenders looking for a foul and everyone seemed to stop for a second waiting for a whistle. Two Swansea players had time and space on the six yard line and Graham it was who netted easily. From there onwards Swansea started to see a lions share of the possesion but without really getting to any scoring positions. City still looked the more likely to score as Morison was unlucky when he robbed a defender and chipped wide over the keeper and then had a shot well saved when he bustled through on the left. He was proving a real handful and almost set up Pilks who shot into the side netting. Swansea definitely had the better of the remainder of the half and I felt City were hanging on a bit and glad to hear the HT whistle.PL must have had a go at them because from the start of the half we really got much more of a grip and the midfield were pressing Swansea much higher up the pitch. Johnson had a twenty yarder saved as City kept up the pressure but some nice moves were spoilt with inaccurate final balls. Eventually just past the hour Russel Martin surged forward and his pass to Tierney was desperately scrambled for a corner. Fox put in a dangerous cross and Barnett''s header was half blocked but fell nicely for Johnson. Instead of rushing a shot from a ball that was slow to sit down he cleverly poked it across goal where Pilks swivelled and netted from about 3 yards. From there onwards Swansea flagged badly and City looked in little danger. Morison had to go off with an injury and Holt came on as City continued in the ascendancy. Johnson tested the keeper again and then Holty cracked one from about 30 yards which Vorm did well to parry. Crofts came on for Wes who had put in a hard shift without ever being at his mercurial best and City comfortably played out the last ten minutes to leave Swansea a well beaten side.I thought the defence were superb today, Ruddy barely had a save to make but I pick out Naughton for special praise for a top notch performance. Johnson again dominated the midfield, especially in the second half, while Pilks and Benntt were always dangerous. Top marks from Ricardo must go to Steve Morison who gave a perfect display of lone centre forward play. He won everything in the air and worried the life out of the Swansea defenders for an hour. A very encouraging afternoon and a special pat on the head for Snowy the cat who predicted that a bird would get its head bitten off today.

[im spartacus canary 0]

go on then i''ll say it... great report as always ricardo [:D]

[Aggy 754]

Good report Ricardo.

I texted a mate of mine when they got one back saying "oh 2-1 now.... if we could defend, we''d be guaranteed to stay up!"

However, after that I was nicely surprised by how well we defended. It was, at times, a bit too deep in the first half for my liking (I''ve said that for about as long as I can remember though). Second half we were very good. Came out and pushed high and pressured everywhere on the pitch, and after the 3rd, we looked far more organised and solid than I had dared to hope.

Very good win. I thought today could be a bit of a reality check after sitting in 8th and a few decent performances/results recently. Glad to say I''ve been proven wrong!

[ricardo 7,381]

[quote user="im spartacus"]go on then i''ll say it... great report as always ricardo [:D][/quote]Thanks Spartacus. I should have also have mentioned the ref. I thought he was the best I''ve seen this year, erring on the side of letting the game flow rather than whistling every few seconds.

[Bury Yellow 2]

Actually Ricardo, after dearth of appalling ref performances, the last three have been really good i.e. Sunderland, Man U and today.

Oh good report as usual :-)

[Buncey 1]

Yet again we stifled another attacking team. I know we conceded again today, but I honestly think the ability and intellect is there at the back, its just the composure that we lack at times. I am very confident that will come over time. For me, this is the most miserly Norwich team I have seen (even more so than the 03/04 promotion team) and I think a repeated phrase we will hear this season is: "sub-par team struggle against Norwich."

[Mr McGoo 0]

Great report as usual ricardo was a good game even for a neutral I suppose. I got a little bit nervous after we started flying and then they managed to score I thought here we go but the team pushed on and got a much deserved third goal then I thought the floodgates would open as they had to try get something out of the game. But in fairness we did the best thing and just kept possession great performance and another 3points

[Thecanaryfan 0]

Great post. Good stood Ric. Thank you. Im loving supporting this great club at the minute. Were lucky people. Enjoy it. :)

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

Hi Ricardo.

For me this was a game that showed the emotions of football.

We were elated by a flying start, two great goals and a side who looked as if they would go on to wipe the floor with Swansea.

Out of nowhere we let in a goal and the balloon was burst. The atmosphere in Carrow Road evaporated and the game plan of the team almost fell apart.

It seemed to me last season that Swansea could not believe how they played so well at FCR, had so much possession and lost 2 - 0. It also appeared to me that Paul Lambert knew Swansea would try to build from the back with a passing game and so had a game plan to let them have the ball as much as they liked in certain areas and hit them with fast breaks.

Swansea began to penetrate as we sat too deep after their goal and the crowd was nervous. At half-time PL must have re-iterated the game plan and seccond half the Swans were almost completely nullified.

For me, PL got the tactics wrong at home to West Brom but in almost every other game, despite misfortune with injuries and sending offs, has devised game plans which the players can have full confidence in and which have caused the opposition real problems. His credibility as a coach grows.

We re-gained confidence with our solidity and extended the lead which lifted the atmosphere. It was a strange day for the crowd who seemed to forget that a Premership win is a Premiership win whoever you are playing and this one was also a pressure game because it was against a side we knew we needed to beat.

We now sit in 9th on 11 points and getting back to the psychology this means we have won as many as we have lost; we have won away from home; we had the first home win and now have well beaten a peer side who we appear to have developed more so than since promotion (a tribute to PL''s early dealings and perhaps Swansea''s late play-off ascendancy).

It is still about how a team is playing rather than just the points and Norwich City look like a settling side. They look like a side with few weaknesses. They have a lot of players who have stepped up and continue to improve and the manager is establishing himself rapidly.

So, on reflection it was a professional and comprehensive win. For a short time it was a triumphant march; but for too long it was an edgy and unsupportive crowd who could have done much better to lift the side but instead transferred too much angst to them.

That said, when you have played well and unaffected in a huge and empty Bulgarian concrete bowl and your name is Steve Morison you don''t let such matters disrupt your superbly controlled aggression and application in turning out the best true centre-forward display since Iwan Roberts best.

If it had been Andy bloody Carroll the watching Mark Lawrenson would have pis sed his pants.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="ricardo"] but I pick out Naughton for special praise for a top notch performance.
[/quote]

Should have done better for the Swansea goal. As should Bennett.

 

Other than that he didn''t put a foot wrong.

[anonamoose 4]

Ref was good, although not overly worked toady.I too have been impressed with the canary defending, although conceding every game, we rarely look stretched like we used to. I watched the highlights of West Brom at CR from last prem season, we looked like conceding on every attack. Great to be able to enjoy watching a game without having kittens the whole time! 

[......and Smith must score. 1,341]

[quote user="ricardo"]........ A very encouraging afternoon and a special pat on the head for Snowy the cat who predicted that a bird would get its head bitten off today.[/quote]Great report as always Ricardo.No disrespect to Snowy''s uncanny powers but with the Canaries playing the Swans a birds head was always in danger yesterday.Must be some kick- *ss canary though........ [:)]

[......and Smith must score. 1,341]

Apologies Ricardo......I now see yesterday''s result was already in the omens following the discovery of the headless corpse.

[curly_whirly_tipz 0]

Great Report Ricardo - just the way I saw it from where I sat with the hush of the N&P upper... :)

[Cosmic Twin 189]

Another great read, Ricardo!

And amazing prediction skills from Snowy! [:)]

 

[Mr.Carrow 376]

Rudolph, i often get annoyed by moaning "fans" but i thought the crowd were good yesterday. It wasn`t really rocking but i thought the atmosphere was positive and supportive (people in the pub after were saying the same).

About halfway through the 2nd half some guy near me at the front of the jarrold shouted "You`re the best centre-back in Scotland Martin!" to which our Russell gave a wry grin and a thumbs-up! Says alot about what we`ve got going at the club when a pro can be so relaxed to interact with the crowd in the heat of battle like that.

Keep them coming Ricardo! :-)